Victim of aggressive dog now carries a stick in N.W.T. community

Leon Bonnetrouge of Fort Providence got a surprise earlier this month. Our for a walk, he met a loose dog who bit him on the leg and held on tight. He was left with several scars.

"I thought it was rain on my pant leg but it was soaked with blood," he says.

Bonnetrouge says the dog that attacked him is still wandering off leash in his community. Now, he carries a big stick when walking outside.

Fort Providence is just one of many northern communities with a dog problem.

“It's really frustrating,” says Fort Providence Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge.

The chief says loose and stray dogs have been an issue for the last 30 years, and still no solution has been found. 

“It's a lot to do with owners taking their puppies when they're small and cute and basically abandoning them.”

Chief Bonnetrouge says he's seen a change in attitudes ever since people stopped using sled dogs: many people refuse to tie up their dogs, so the quickest way to control them is by shooting them. But that's not always the best management plan. 

"We don't like shooting dogs in the community because people have said it's too traumatic on the children, because it's in front of children. But definitely, we've tried all kinds of angles."

In the past, the chief says, the RCMP and the dog officer shot nuisance dogs. Now, nobody is shooting the dogs and their numbers are growing. 

Many will end up starving, freezing or being eaten by wild animals.

​It’s the same problem in N’dilo, the Yellowknives Dene community next door to Yellowknife.

Chief Ernest Betsina says he’s near the end of his rope after issuing repeated warning to his band members to tie up their dogs.

“It's getting colder, and the dogs, whether they're getting fed or not, they're getting more aggressive, they're forming packs,” he says.

“Not too long ago, there was a dog mauling, and that could easily be one of our children.”

He says he and his council have recently hired a dog control officer. They're currently drafting up a dog bylaw that will soon come into effect. 

MLA wants territory-wide spay/neuter program

In the legislature recently, Fort Providence MLA Michael Nadli pushed for government to back a spay/neuter program in all N.W.T. of the communities.

“We say dogs are a man's best friend but they can be as much of a nuisance as any wild animal if they're not treated properly,” he told his legislative colleagues. “We need to work with the municipalities and harness solutions that really work for the communities.”

In Fort Providence, Leon Bonnetrouge’s wounds have healed, but he wants some of his neighbours to change their ways.

“It's common sense to have it tied.”